Welcome to Gaia! ::

Felise smiled and was about to respond when she heard a womans voice,

"The lot of you can come in!"

Common sense showed that the gryphons wouldn't fit inside. By looking around she caught sight of a garden entrance. A glance showed that it was designed for the larger companions.

Renarvos followed her gaze. Blinking at it, he reached down and plucked Bethany out of Felise's grip. Carrying the chick by the scruff of the neck, he headed over to the garden entrance. The red headed female watch him off, then tucked her back under her arm and headed inside, allowing the others to go first... they seemed to want it more.

She offered a friendly smile to Iris when she saw her again. The female had at least taken notice of her and was polite enough to invite her to join their queue. Now though, she headed straight for the bar, hoping to just get something to drink and then something to eat for her and her gryphs, then to head out again.

Setting her bag on her lap, she looked around for the bartender.

Iris took a seat with Mal and Rem, watching the other woman for a moment more. She had gone in and chosen to sit by herself, and she seemed to be in a hurry. The dark-haired woman considered inviting her over to sit with her and Mal and Rem, but...given Mal's state, she reconsidered for the time being. Too bad the thought still sat on the edge of her mind. Perhaps after everyone had something to drink, she would invite the girl over.

The woman smiled in amusement as Mal twirled around on the stool. It was then that she forced herself to relax. Despite the fact that she was in public, it was okay to relax for once. She didn't have to be all prim and as-near-to-perfection-in-word-and-look-and-deed-as-humanly-possible (not that she tried too incredibly hard to fit that mold anyway, judging by her one little homicidal run) in here. The only other place such a thing was true was in her own home. And even then, there was always someone knocking at her door.

Thankfully, it was Deste half the time. Or Mal, for one reason or another.

The Nefretiri daughter watched the exchange between Rem and Mal with growing confusion. For being 'friends', they didn't seem that...trusting. That was the easiest word. Rem seemed good enough, why was Mal so damn paranoid?

...she suspected that their ties went deeper than she wanted to delve. The past could be a scary thing. Iris couldn't even begin to fathom the inner workings of Mal's past, judging by how he was today.

She was feeling adventurous, though.

"Sooo...you two seem like the best of friends." Iris said, light-hearted sarcasm dripping from her voice. "All trusting and honest with one another. Are you going to get up and give each other a great big man-hug at one point, or am I going to have to dodge the blades?...in other words, I'm confused already."

Explanation? She doubted that she would get one.

Shane emerged a few moments later from the back room - she'd just been making sure Zephan was comfortable, and that the other griffins were settling well - humming a tune that almost sounded like a lullaby. Very out of place for the setting...though, so was her current style of dress. Actually, what was wearing was quite 'ordinary' from her perspective, but still...strange by most other peoples'. Red was her theme - she almost matched the furniture, entertaining spinning chairs and all, and yet it suited her.

A modestly-cut half-arm length top fell to a swooshy black skirt with crimson embroidery. But, around her waist and helping to emphasize her rather sad chest size was a corset, worn backwards in the classic Shane-style (yes, she had invented her own style, known and used ONLY by her because it was so amazing). It was her lacey white one, this time. And, to top it all off, her hair was being kept tame by a red ribbon with an almost overtly-large bow bobbing on the side of her head.

With her, she brought a few larger glasses than the average ones stocking the bar counter. Oh, and she had a few bottles of Xuan's best whiskey and some tropical imported rum, too. Hopefully these people were good drinkers; with this few people, she could afford to be generous. Especially now that her 'package's' price had proven to be much less than she had expected. Speaking of package...hm, that one should be done unwrapping herself for the other plot about to be set in motion.

Ah! And there was the instigator of said battle plan! "Why if it isn't my favorite Princeling's Little Miss!" Shane exclaimed as she set her items on the mixing stretch behind the main counter, about midway between the group of three and the lone woman. But, upon looking up, her eyes found one of the many people she wouldn't have expected to be in a bar. Much less her establishment.

Eheheheeeh.

This was turning out to be a good start to what was sure to be an awesome night. Putting on a 'What the hell?!' face, the Penguin's owner rounded on the two men sitting beside Iris.

"YOU!" the woman demanded, pointing a very offended, and very accusatory finger at Rem. "Out out out! We don't serve water!"

Hiding just around the corner in the direction of the private rooms, the ready-and-waiting delivery gave a short snicker. Shane was the same as always...such an endearing person, she was.

Both men eyed Shane’s manner of dress, but with slightly different reactions. Mal simply seemed amused once he got over his surprise. Rem seemed to have trouble getting over his surprise.

Unsurprisingly, Mal was the one to react first to the angry woman. Well, sort of. As soon as someone started shouting ‘out’, a guilty look came onto the man’s face and his shoulders hunched just a little as if trying to hide. He even stopped spinning on the barstool. That is, until he realized that, for once, he wasn’t the object of a bartender’s anger.

Once this sunk into his brain, he took on a far more relaxed pose, and an amused smirk came onto his face. “See, I told you your water-drinkin’ habits would get you in trouble, Rem! It ain’t natural, a man drinkin’ water instead of drinkin’ good ol’ whiskey… which reminds me, miss, you can’t throw him out. He’s payin’ for my drinks,” Mal said in an apologetic way to Shane with a slight shrug. Sure, he might stick around if Rem was actually thrown out since Iris was here. But, as strange as it sounded, he enjoyed the other man’s company. Rem was amusing. He had discovered that during his brief stint in prison.

…

That sounded very… wrong. Mal smirked slightly and decided to simply enjoy the show and demand his whiskey later.

Poor Rem was simply taken aback by the woman’s sudden anger. Like Mal, he had expected the words to be aimed at… well… the dark-haired man who had a penchant for trouble. Who could get mad at someone for drinking water? Honestly! Even odder was Mal’s apparent defense of him.

Sort of defense, anyway. It wasn’t like Mal to turn away a bar, but he seemed to be ready to do so if Rem was kicked out. Sure, he offered an excuse, but Rem knew better than to believe the proffered words. Or, at least, he thought he did.

“I just don’t drink alcohol, is all,” he said, trying to soothe the woman’s temper. He couldn’t tell if it was real or not, so he decided to be on the safe side and assume it was real. Even if it was stupid to be mad about such a thing… honestly, mad because of an order of water?!

“But, I, on the other hand, do,” Mal cut in, holding up a finger. “That’d be a whiskey, miss.” Nah, he doubted that the bartender would toss out a paying customer, even if that customer ordered water. Money was money, no matter who offered it.

...There were people here already? And more griffins?...Bah.

Lifting his head, Zephan peered out from the small shed that was his makeshift sleeping area while he recovered from the run-in with the hell beast scarcely more than a week before. He still ached a bit. But then again, he got to sleep more than usual without his owner bothering him every hour of the day, so he wouldn't complain.

Rising, the black griffin carefully balanced himself on his three working legs, positioning the sling Shane had supplied him under his left talon. It would be an interesting scene if anyone were to look at him at that moment, with the various bandages and overall unkempt look. Besides that, some of the feather paintings had worn off on his left shoulder, results of the process of getting his wounds cleaned out.

Limping with what speed he could manage out of his little housing building, the male made his way over the springy grass, squinting into the mid-afternoon sun. What 'guests' was he in charge of greeting today? Sounded like another was arriving even as he thought about it.

------

Inside, the owner of the bar put on a brilliant smile as another guest walked in. "Be right with you, sir!"

And upon turning back to Rem, her face flipped right back to her dark, angry, bottle-wielding woman expression. "Excuses, excuses!" she snapped, marching with quite a flourish over to the counter area just in front of the light-haired man. She stared at him for a few moments, as if sizing him up...before slamming her palms down onto the counter and leaning over top with a small jump.

The result was basically Shane shoving her 'I am not pleased!' mug right into the face of a potential customer. In front of other potential customers. Not that bar etiquette was required for the moment - it was technically before-hours, after all. But it must have been quite amusing for those who had the right sense of humor - Rem kept leaning back on his stool the further Shane leaned forward.

Hehehe. But eventually, she had to stop. Smiling in the way a person grins when they have just pulled a successful joke, the woman voiced, "Just kidding!~" and settled back. "I did say a free round for whoever wants it. If you don't wanna get drunk in the middle of the day, no pressure from me! Now..."

Looking over to the one who had said he liked his alcohol - ah, a kindred spirit! - Shane considered a moment...and then sauntered back over to where she had put the things she had brought out, picked out two bottles of whiskey, and slid the two liquids towards Mal. "Two bottles on the house to start!" she said with a cheery grin. "Now then, what can I get the other ladies and gentlemen? I recommend something light and fruity for an afternoon like this!"

That was about her cue to shuffle out. Carefully retucking her cloak around her, the woman made a quiet, but speedy entrance. Shane had said that there was a woman trying to set her friend up with a date...so, assuming that the black-haired one sitting beside two males was the one, Cadhla would speak to her first.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" she asked, approaching with ultimate timidness in her voice. "I, um..." her voice dropped to a whisper, and for added affect, she threw in a mix of fright into her tone. "I was...'ordered' for someone?"

"Heeeyheyheyhey!" The bartender severe look was suddenly back when she spotted her package wandering about. "Shoo!" she said, flicking her wrist in the direction of the back rooms. "Stay in a bedroom until we're ready to send him to you!"

Shane, watching Cadhla give a quick bow of apology before turning and fleeing, managed to keep a very straight, hostile face as odd looks - some just downright disturbed - were thrown her way.

....Hm, she should try doing that to Princeling, sometime.

Kaisa tilted his head at being invited over, figured what the hell, and got off his stool to go sit by the other two men. In passing Shane he said, "Actually, there's something I've wanted to try for a while... Sex on the Beach. You know that one?" Simply for the amusement factor he said the name of the drink a bit louder than necessary.

Having recieved his various looks of amusement or disgust he sat down next to the whiskey weilding man and his blonde friend - who were both rather cute - and gave his new stool an exploratory twirl. Satisfied that it was quite as spinny as the last one, he extended a hand for either of them to take if they felt so inclined. "Kaisa de'Siriphine. How's the whiskey?"

He did not, of course, ignore Iris, whom sat on the opposite side of the pair. Just because he wasn't in Xuan much didn't mean he had no idea who she was. He dipped his head in what came about as close to a bow as he was usually willing to give, at least in non-formal circumstances. He didn't think he'd ever seen her in person before, though; she was lovely, and had that bit of warrior steel behind her eyes that reminded him briefly of Nyhali. It was too bad she was engaged.

Tiamat watched the male exiting his little building, noting with an odd sort of satisfaction that he seemed about as happy with all the company as she did. He had some lovely feather paintings; wondered briefly if something similar might actually be worthy of residing on her pelt, but shrugged the idea off for it had little meaning at the moment. She trilled a brief greeting to him; t'was rude to refuse to acknowledge the host. However it was obvious by her body language that she was disinclined to move and cared little whether he came closer or stayed where he was.

Mal, paranoid as he was, still accepted the blonde stranger’s hand easily enough, saying, “Malcolm Lansing. Call me Mal, if you prefer. Most everyone does. The quiet blonde who doesn’t drink and blushes at the mention of sex is Remiel Quillan. Please excuse him. ‘S not his fault. The whiskey is pretty damn good, actually. Some of the better stuff I’ve had.” Not the absolute best, but he wasn’t going to say that. No need to insult the nice bar-keeper who gave him free drinks. Normally, Mal didn’t care about ingratiating himself towards anyone. But, this was different. In this situation, he had something to gain.

Like booze! Mal was willing to do almost anything for alcohol. It was his lifeblood. If it was good alcohol, things were even better. Hmm… this Kaisa had pretty eyes, now didn’t he? No! No flirting! Honestly, he had barely even begun drinking and he already wanted to flirt. Must be this spinny chair. Again, he spun the stool lightly, pleased with how smooth the action was. By looking at him, one would have figured that all thoughts of certain bundled women who had been ‘ordered’ were far from his mind…

If one did think that, one would be very, very wrong. Mal didn’t like the looks of that. He was very much in favor of personal freedom. It was everything… and he didn’t care for the idea of someone being forced to do anything like that. It just went against everything he stood for. Or drank for. Whatever. He didn’t care if someone chose to live that life… that was different. He pointedly reminded himself that it was none of his business and he took another swig of his whiskey, enjoying the rich flavor of the alcohol.

Damn good booze.

“We should see who can spin the chairs the fastest,” he suggested to Kaisa, once he saw that the other man was just as entertained by the spinny chairs as he was.

“Mal, you don’t want to throw up until tomorrow,” Rem lightly reminded, speaking for the first time since Kaisa had shown up. It was strange, comparing the wariness of the two. Mal got paranoid at the drop of a hat and didn’t mind showing it, but it disappeared quickly. Rem was less… vocal about his paranoia, but it was obviously still there around strangers. Or maybe he was still too offended by the appearance of the cloaked woman to bother talking much.

Or, just as likely, he was still blushing from Kaisa’s mention of ‘sex on the beach’. It just… what the Hell. First of all, it sounded strange to ask for such a thing in a bar that was far away from the beach. For another, it sounded somewhat uncomfortable with sand granules getting everywhere… ugh. Waitaminute… for a moment, Rem’s mind reflected on the cloaked woman who had been ‘ordered’.

Sex on the beach alright. He glared mildly at Kaisa, letting the other blonde know that he disapproved before going back to quietly sulking.

"The Charming Penguin... now that's an interesting name" observed one blonde haired woman who stood outside, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a gloved hand, the other crossed over her middle. A smirk and an amused glance was given to the imposing griffin beside her. A tap on his beak and she directed him to the backyard where the signage indicated where griffins should go.

Darkfeather gave a squawk of protest as he realized that he was being ushered into a yard with other griffins.

"Now now.. play nice, I'll be back for you soon enough."

Darkfeather looked on forlornly as his human disappeared inside the tavern, his crest lifting slightly as he tried to crane his neck, to see if he could see her. Giving a huff of indignance, he then turned and glowered in the general direction of the other penned up animals. He was too good for them, of course.

One Nikki Aideen meandered her way inside, ignoring the forlorn look from her griffin. He would be fine... that big baby. What greeted her upon the interior of the building was what seemed to be an average looking bar. Although she noted the very interesting paint job on the floors and walls.

The sound of leather boots was audible as she walked, the woman being minus her hat today, but a blue feather also dangled from her right ear. The woman passed most people by, simply directing herself to one of the bar stools and seating herself there. She was not a stranger to such places, and she quickly made herself at home. One leg crossing over the other. The lower foot braced against the stool and the upper one swinging lightly. The dark clad human resting her elbows on the table and steepling her fingers in quiet patience.